How to Write a To-Do List That’s Actionable AF

The gist: in this post, we’re talking about how verbs are the key to effective and actionable to-do lists that make it easier to be productive.

Take a look at your to-do list. Read the different tasks on it.

Now, this may seem like an obvious question, but does it actually have anything you can do?

VERBS, MY FRIEND! I’m talkin’ bout verbs.

You can read all the lifehack and productivity articles in the world about saving time on your to-do list, but they won’t help you if you don’t know how to write an effective to-do list in the first place.

I understand why people want to spend as little time as possible writing their to-do lists. The less time you spend planning, the more time you can spend doing, right?

WRONG.

Your to-do list is your instruction manual for the day. And we all know what it’s like to put together furniture with a confusing manual.

So it’s worth taking the extra minute or two (seriously, it’s not much time) to create a more effective to-do list.

Without verbs, your to-do list is a vague list of things, not tasks to be completed.

So if you want to get technical (and I always do), it’s not a to-do list. It’s a list of things that don’t yet exist, but it doesn’t give instructions on how to create them.

My reaction when I realized this? Mind. blown.

Why Verb-Filled To-Do Lists Work

Let’s say you created a task list for your week on Sunday night using the lackluster, verbless second list.

You may look at that second list Wednesday morning and see things like “Pinterest link” and “automations,” but forget the details. Are you supposed to be creating them? Editing them? And where?

You may think, “Well, duh. I know my own job, I don’t need the details” And that may be true.

But at work, I’m involved in writing, editing, formatting, and promoting blog posts. They’re all separate tasks, but how would I tell the difference between them on a vague, verbless list?

Even if I do all four in a given day, breaking it down into four separate and actionable items makes my to-do list clearer and more detailed. More importantly, it makes my action plan about action, instead of things.

But before you go, pin this:

About Work Brighter

Hi, I'm Brittany Berger, productive unicorn and founder of Work Brighter! 🦄 I started this site to help you personalize productivity, screw best practices, and create your own rules for work and self-care.

I used to be an example of taking a productivity obsession wayyy too far into straight-up workaholism, and now I want to help you find a balance between hustle and play. 😀

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